From service to surgery: Helping patients move forward with confidence

For Galvin, orthopedic surgery is both a technical discipline and a deeply personal calling. Long before he joined UI Health Care, he was a West Point cadet, an Army Ranger and airborne infantry platoon leader, and later, a military orthopedic surgeon caring for service members around the world. Those experiences shaped how he approaches every patient today: listen first, study the full picture, explain clearly, and provide care that gives people confidence in the path forward.

Galvin sees UI Health Care patients at both the North Liberty and downtown campuses and also treats Veterans from across Iowa at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center.

No matter where he's seeing a patient, or what brought them to his care, Galvin usually begins visits with a simple, but important, question: What is bothering you?

"Sometimes a patient will answer by telling me about a diagnosis or a scan they've already received, but I dig deeper," Galvin says. "I want to know what they are experiencing or what they're no longer able to do."

That philosophy matters because imaging alone does not always tell the whole story. An MRI may look concerning, but Galvin wants to know whether the real challenge is pain, weakness, instability, or loss of function. Can the person still work, lift a grandchild, or sleep comfortably?

Getting the full picture helps him formulate a plan.

"We always start with: 'Can we manage this without surgery?'" Galvin says.

He considers the patient's medical history, physical exam, X-rays, MRI or CT scans, and lifestyle goals before walking through their options in plain language. He often shows patients their imaging and draws pictures, describing the anatomy in everyday terms. Galvin wants patients to leave each visit understanding the benefits and risks of surgery, the consequences of waiting, and the nonsurgical options available.

Galvin's kind, transparent approach, supported by coordinated appointments, physical therapy, and recovery planning helps patients and families know what to expect. His care for each individual patient is reflected in consistently good outcomes from surgery, helping patients get back to the activities they love to do.

In addition to many common procedures, UI Health Care also serves as a destination for complex cases and revisions when previous surgeries have failed elsewhere. Galvin performs a high volume of these procedures, along with his fellow UI Health Care shoulder and elbow surgeons, Brendan M. Patterson, MD, and James V. Nepola, MD, including advanced shoulder and elbow operations that may not be routine for every orthopedic surgeon. For patients facing shoulder or elbow surgery, that confidence can be especially important.

Galvin honed his ability to translate complex medical information into a clear plan at Ranger School and during deployments, where he briefed teams under pressure, with limited time, and sometimes across language barriers. The same lesson still applies in the clinic: patients need to understand the problem, plan, and risks before moving forward with confidence.

Galvin's commitment to Veterans remains central to his work. After 17 years on active duty, he transitioned to the Army Reserves and was recently selected for promotion to Colonel.

"Leaving active duty was difficult because I really felt like the team doctor while caring for service members," Galvin says. "We all shared a common mission."

At the Iowa City VA, he has found a similar sense of purpose caring for Veterans from different branches, eras, and conflicts, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam.

Galvin appreciates the team-like feeling at UI Health Care, where everyone is working to continuously improve collaboratively, even across specialties.

"Anytime you get a large group of dedicated, highly driven, intelligent, and talented individuals on the same team, you push each other to get better," Galvin says. "We all share what we know to continue to improve patient outcomes."

Galvin's commitment to improving care extends into research. At Iowa, he launched the University of Iowa Orthopedic Research Biobank (UI-ORB), which collects optional patient samples such as saliva, blood, joint fluid, and discarded surgical tissue for future study. Together with surgeons Patterson and Nepola, and scientist and muscle biologist Hongshuai Li, MD, PhD, the team uses precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and patient-reported outcomes to dig deeper into topics like the genetics of shoulder arthritis and the biological factors that influence why some rotator cuff repairs heal while others do not.

For Galvin, the research is an extension of the same questions he asks in the clinic: What is this patient experiencing, and how can care be tailored to help them achieve the best possible outcome? By studying why conditions develop and why treatments work differently from person to person, he hopes to turn new insights into more informed decisions and better care for future patients.

Across his roles as surgeon, researcher, reservist, teacher, and Veteran advocate, Galvin returns to the same core purpose: helping patients regain comfort, function, and confidence. Whether caring for an Iowan seeking expert shoulder or elbow care, or a Veteran at the VA, he believes each patient deserves careful listening, clear options, and the best possible outcome, the first time around.

In Afghanistan, Joseph Galvin, DO, faced a challenge that required more than a shared mission: a shared understanding. With his company commander on leave, as the platoon leader, Galvin was temporarily responsible for approximately 140 soldiers. He also had to coordinate with the Afghan National Army, police, and border patrol for a mission to locate and destroy weapons caches in the mountains along the Pakistan border. The groups did not train together, and a language barrier complicated the task.

Working with interpreters, Galvin helped turn the plan into something everyone could see. The team built a large mock-up of the mountain range and local villages, then walked through a rehearsal together with the Afghan forces leading the effort.

That experience still informs his patient conversations. In clinic, he draws pictures and compares them with MRI images, translating unfamiliar medical language into explanations patients can understand. The setting has changed, but the lesson remains: a plan starts with making sure people understand it.